Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c41.56

c41.56

The remaining feature of note ornamenting the dagaba was the finial, a crowning emblem consisting of several superimposed elements, the whole comprising many mythical properties. Here was the heart and nerve centre of this immaculate monument. Briefly, this *kota* or *kotuwa* was composed of two main parts, the cubical casket or *hataraes kotuwa* at the base, supporting the ceremonial umbrella, or *chatta*, but in the course of years the ritual connected with these went through forms of change. In the first place the *chatta*, although associated with the honorific parasol, bears little resemblance to this essential symbol of the Buddha, and, furled in the shape of a staff, is more reminiscent of the totem post of the Veddahs, and may therefore be of aboriginal extraction. This *chatta* post (*yasti* or staff of the *chhatravali*) was originally embedded in the cubical *hataraes*, a receptacle intended for the principal relics of the dagaba, but it was eventually found that this system of socketing left little space in its interior for the accommodation of the sacred deposit. Therefore a small compartment was made below, and actually within the brickwork summit of the *garba* itself, and into this was lowered the *yantragala* or Mystic Stone, a granite block the surface hollowed into nine small recesses to contain the relics and votive offerings, the finial or *kota* sealing up and surmounting the whole